Lens cutter



Sept. 4, 192s.

A. E. MAYNARD 1683295 LENS CUTTER original. Filed July 22, 1922 INVENTORHaynar I M lfu-EY Patented Slept. 4, 1928.

unirse erinnern. MAYNARD, on sotITHBnrnGn, Iasssecnusnrrs, Assiettes 'roenmarcan 'SION 0F MASSACHUSETTS.

original appuaaaon sieri july 22, 1922,' semi its. 57eme. 'rinsed andthis apfiiiafin `iii-eci April 28 1924, Serial No, 709,508, and inGreat'Britain July 6, '1922. i

This invention relates to improvements in cutters, and has particularreference to 'a novel and improved construction of machine particularlyadapted for-use in the cutting ofoplit-lialinic lenses. The presentapplic`ation is a'division of my cti-pending application Serial Number576,846, filed July 22, 1922, new latent Number 15,192?.

An important object of the invention is to provide an improved lenscutting machine which will be readily adapted to cut lenses of anydesired commercial shape.

Another object is to provide such a niachine with an improved cuttingtool guiding member whereby the shape of the former will be accuratelytransferred to vthe cutv lens, particularly where there is a suddenchange in the contour of the lens;

Another object is jto-'provide suoli a device which will be strong'anddurable in service, easy and accurate in Operatiomand a generalimprovement 'in the art.

1Vith these and other 4objects in view the invention resides in thenovel features of coi'istruction7 combination and arrangement of partshereinafter pointed out7 illustrated in the accompanying drawings andspecically 'set forth in the appended claims. y

In the drawings forming a part `of this application 4 l Figure 1 is aperspective View kof acomplete 'lens cutting machine embodying theinventiong" f y Figure -2 is an enlarged transverse sectional viewyillustratingv my Vimproved tool guiding inechanismg' @m25 'o t Figure 2g Figures is a detail perspective view of one 'of the former trackingmembers'.

My improved lens cutting machine coin prises a base member 10 havingrotatably mounted thereon a lens supporting table 11,

1,621,331, Marchl .Figure is a sectional view on the line LENS CUTTER.

ofis. a head support 18 which is adjustable longitudinally eofthe'fmachine by means of a thumb screw 19, the amount of adjustmentbeing lindicated on the dial 20. Also the member 18 is pivoted in such away that byA means of the linger engaging portion 21 and suitable latchmechanism lcarried there-` by the whole head of the machine may betilted to properly position the cutting tool in relation to lthe surfaceof the work, as will be clearly apparent to those skilled in the art.The supporting member 18 is'provided at its upper end lWfitlia uhead 22in which is mounted a suitable" spindle 23 car? rying preferably aplurality of lens shapes which may be selectively*positioned accorde"ing to the nature of the work t'obe dond The spindle andthe lens shapes,as well as the lens supportin'table l1 may lbe syn*` ehronously .rotatedy operation ofthe handle 25. All of -the[foregoing structure andfunction has been clearly set lout in tlieafbove mentionedcti-pendingapplication.' i

The present invention rrelatesparticularly to the ,former engaging-niechanism vwl'iereby the cutting point :'26, which preferably adiamond, is `accurately moved in tsuch awayas to transfer the desiredshape tothe 4'lens being operated upon. This 1improvedftraclringmechanism comprises ayielding a'r1n127, which is vlpiv'oted in 'anyldesirable manner tothe member 18 andactuated by a spring to force thefree endbf the arm towards the sp'indle'23. y Pivotal'ly carried in vthefree end of the farm 27 is a yoke 28 which carries the n diamond at itslower end. v`1\idwa y of its ends and at the side towards 'theformers'2l the yoke 28 is 'provided'v vwith 'a Contact shoe 29 which iscentrally notched as at 30 'fora purposel to be hereinafter described."The face' of the 'shoe 29 is 'preferably vcoitix'f'e'xfso asf/to give avery' smallv bearing surface against the former 21h i Pivoted las at31,130 the is a pair of'arms 32 carrying' at their inner extremitiesrollers 33 which are' adapted to 'ContactA shoe fion inf,

spring towards the former 24, the contact shoe 29 will engage theperiphery of the former,`as will the supplemental shoes or rollers 33,and as the spindle 23 is rotated to turn the former, the members willreadily follow the contour of the pattern so as to accurately guide thediamond point 26 operating against the lens.

In use this form of tracking mechanism is adaptable Yto Ycut any shapeof lens, including round, oval, hexagonal, or special shapes,

and innthis lconnectionl it ,may be well toA mention'that the notch 30in the end of the contact shoe .29 is especially useful when cuttinghexagonal lenses or other lenses with a sharp change in direction intheir contour.

ylVhcn such apattern is rotated the sharp corner engages in the notchand swings the diamond suddenlytortransfer the proper sharp corner tothework. Due to the fact that the supplemental contact members are `pivotedat 3l and yieldable, the rollers 83 will always engage the periphery ofthe former 24, regardlessl of the shape of the former. This isespecially advantageous in connection withthe cutting of hexagonal Aorother odd shaped lenses,in that the diamondor other cutting tool isalways maintained in a line tangent to that of the cut.

`It is thought that the operation of theA machine is sufficiently well,brought out in `my vco-pending application'mentioned above,

and that the operation of the improved trackingV mechanism `which is thesubject matter of `this application will be obvious from the foregoingdescription. Of course,

.changesmay be resorted to in the formA and proportion of. parts, and Iherein reserve the right to make such changes falling within the scopeof the appended claims without departing from'the spirit of myinvention.

Having thus described invention, what I vclaim 1s:

l. In a lenswcutter, the combination e, withr i a cutter head bearing aformer contact, said Y contact including spaced arms each having outeryends of said armsv to retainl the inner` a portion pivoted to acorresponding portion on, the other, land, a coil spring between theendsthereof lin normal contact withv a former. 'i I 2. In aV lenscutter', a former, a cutter head having a swingingr arm, former engagingmembers arranged on said arm, a' cutter carried by the swinging Varmadjacent its outer end, spacedarms on the swinging arm each pivotedthereto and engaging the former, and a spring disposed between the outerends of :said pivoted arms to retain the engaging parts in normalengagement with the former. Y

3. In a lens cutter, a former, a supporting arm, a head at the outer endof said arm, a

'cutter carried by the head, spaced arms supported upon the head, saidarms being pivotally connected to the head, contact rollers at the outerends of said arms, vand a coil spring arranged between said arms, to retain the rollers in engagement with the former.v

4. In a lens cutter, a former, means to r0- tate the former, a formercontact member comprising a swinging arm, spaced engaging portionsupports pivoted on the arm, resilient means toA force the supportstowards each other and a Contact wheel on each support engaging theformer, said pivot allowing the contact wheels on the pivoted l engagingportions to adjust themselves to the contour of the former as the formeris ro-` tated.

5. The combination with a lens cutting machine, of a cutter former and acutter member comprising a head, a relatively rigid contact shoe carriedthereby, movable supplementary contact shoes associated withy said head,resilient means engaging the supplementary contact shoes, and` a cuttingpoint on the cutter member. Y

6. In a device of the character described, a former, a` swinging arm, acontact plate on the swinging arm having a convex contact edge, therebeing a notch in the contact edge where it engages the former.

7 In a lens cutter, a tracking mechanism including a contact memberadapted to en-y gage a former, said Contact member being slightlynotched on the; former engaging surface, and supplemental formercontacts pivotally mounted on the .first mentioned contact member. Y

8. In a lens cutter, a tracking mechanism-A including a Contact memberadapted to engage a former, said contact memberbeing ALBERT E. MAYNARD.

